Tanner Mendoza crosses the goal line in the third overtime against Linfield and the celebration began. Chapman athletics photo

Central rallied to win in overtime, while Chapman needed three overtimes to get past Linfield and St. John's survived a big offensive performance from Aurora, while Wheaton advanced to the second round as well.

• Full first-round scoreboard
• Updated playoff bracket
• Follow the first round on the Bracket Blitz
• First-round wrapups: Wheaton bracket | UMHB | Mount Union | Salisbury
• Playoff team capsules: UMHB bracket | Mount Union | Salisbury | Wheaton
• Our playoff picks, surprises, disappointments
• Golden Bears look to take next step
• North Central: In playoff mode since October

They carried Tanner Mendoza off the field at the end of the game, and it was only appropriate, as Mendoza carried his Panthers to the win in the third overtime as Chapman defeated Linfield 68-65. Mendoza ran for three touchdowns and ran for 173 yards, 21 of them in the third overtime including an epic 13-yard rumble to the end zone, stiff-arming multiple defenders en route to the game-winning touchdown.

The teams combined for 1,124 yards of total offense, and scored touchdowns on three consecutive plays as the game went to overtime. That included a touchdown pass by star linebacker Dillon Keefe, who scored on a scoop-and-score, ran for a touchdown and three a touchdown as well in the win.

Chapman scored with 1:15 left in regulation as Wyatt Hardin came down with a 10-yard touchdown catch to give Chapman a 48-41 lead. But that left the Wildcats with too much time, and while Wyatt Smith completed just three of nine passes on the final drive, one was a 32-yard heave to Jacob Calo on fourth-and-4. Artie Johnson finished it off with a 12-yard touchdown run that caught everyone on the Chapman defense flat-footed with 4.9 seconds left, and the game went to overtime.

In the third overtime, Smith and the Wildcats got one first down to the Chapman 13, but Keefe forced Smith to throw one away and Smith missed on third down as well, forcing the Wildcats to take a short field goal to take a 65-62 lead. And when Chapman got the ball back, Mendoza opened with an 8-yard bruising run up the middle. Nico Ragas caught a short dump over the middle to convert the first down and Mendoza got the call on first down from the 13, stiff-arming two Linfield defenders on the way to the end zone, touching off the celebration.

"We're on top of the world right now," Mendoza told the Chapman broadcast, visibly pumped even more than 10 minutes after the game. "There's no greater feeling than I've ever experienced. ... We're just beyond happy."

Eric Knaack scored three touchdowns after the third quarter ended. This one, with 15 seconds left in regulation, tied the game for Central after the Dutch trailed by 24 points. Central athletics photo

Central, which saw a huge halftime lead wilt away against Wartburg earlier in the season, saw things go in the opposite direction for the first 60 minutes on Saturday. UW-Oshkosh took a 31-7 lead into halftime, finishing the first half with a fumble return for a touchdown. But the Dutch chipped away in the second half, with Blaine Hawkins hitting Eric Knaack for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the final one tying the game at 31 with 15 seconds left. Knaack opened overtime with a TD catch from Hawkins, this one a shovel pass which he took into the end zone. Oshkosh answered when Kobe Berghammer found Mitchell Gerend on a fade on the right-hand side of the end zone to cut the lead to 38-37, and after the Titans took a timeout, Berghammer's two-point conversion pass was off-target and Central had its second home overtime celebration in three weekends.

The miss overshadowed a great start by Berghammer in the freshman's first playoff game, as he completed 19 of 28 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns, as well as picking up 114 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. But Hawkins threw for four touchdowns and ran for one for the Dutch (10-1). Central will travel to Wheaton for the second round of the playoffs.

Aurora scored early, and scored often, but it was St. John's which got the last two scores as the third-seeded Johnnies got past seventh-seeded Aurora 51-47. Gavin Zimbelman, who threw for six touchdowns and 432 yards, picked apart the St. John's defense to the tune of 39 completionsin 58 attempts. That included a 9-yard pass to Brock Harner which put the Spartans (9-2) up 47-38 with 8:26 left. But Jackson Erdmann went 5-for-8 passing on the ensuing drive, including a 26-yard catch-and-run by T.J. Hodge to get the Johnnies (10-1) into Spartan territory, and Kai Barber finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown run. Colin Kummer's PAT made it 47-45.

Aurora went three-and-out, and SJU got the ball at its own 45. Kai Barber had a big run for 37 yards to get down to the Spartans 13, and on first-and-goal from inside the 1, SJU scored easily on another Barber run to take a 51-47 lead. With 1:43 left, Aurora got the ball in good field position, and Zimbelman hit consecutive passes to Colton Jewell to get into Johnnie territory. But Metoriah Faoliu sacked him for a 7-yard loss on first-and-10 from the 37. Zimbelman hit Jewell for 14 yards on third-and-17, but without a timeout or a chance to spike the ball, Zimbelman was forced to scramble and found Jewell, but time ran out with Jewell tackled at the SJU 22 and the Johnnies students stormed the field.

Wheaton rolled out to a 31-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 51-7 win vs. Martin Luther in its first-round game. Luke Anthony completed 16 of 24 passes for 239 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Martin Luther's veer offense gained 156 yards on the ground and generally kept the Wheaton defensive line out of its backfield, but the only score was a breakaway 44-yard TD by Joshuah Kren in the third quarter.